Electric-light-controlling device.



A. L. WOOD. ELEGTRIG LIGHT CONTROLLING DEVIGE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1908,

Patented July 27, 1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE.

ARTHUR L. WOOD, OF JACKSONVILLE, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC-LIGHT-CONTROLLING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR L. Wool), citizen of the United States,residing at Jacksonville, in the county of Morgan and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectric-Light-Controlling Devices, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to electric time switches and refers particularlyto devices adapted to automatically control the opening and closing ofelectric light circuits, said devices belonging to that type operatedby, and attachable to an ordinary clock.

It is usually desirable to turn off the lights used for special purposesat some predetermined point of time; and especially is this true wheresuch lights are employed to illuminate stores and show windows. Since itis the custom for various reasons to keep the lamps lighted after theoccupants have left the premises, some means for turning them outautomatically at a certain hour is very convenient, saving the troubleand ex pense of personal supervision. It will sometimes be necessary tolight the lamps as well as to extinguish them while the premises areunoccupied. Where a system of electric lighting is installed theautomatic making and breaking of the circuit may be accomplished in apractical manner, and time pieces, such as ordinary clocks have beenemployed for that purpose.

. In the improvements which form the subject matter of this applicationthe objects sought are:to provide an automatic circuit controllingdevice in connection with a clock that will be simple in its mechanism,and consequently economical to manufacture, sure in its operation anddurable.

A marked advantage to be derived from the employment of the appliancewhich I have devised will be found in its purely automatic action nofurther attention being re uired after the apparatus has been insta ledunless a change is desired in the time of turning on or off the lights,and any changes of this character may be made in a few seconds.

I accomplish the desired objects by the use of the mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application and inwhich the construction of the various parts is disclosed in thefollowing views Figure 1 is a front elevation of a clock dialSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 8, 1908.

Patented July 27, 1909.

Serial No. 442,463.

equipped with my improved electric time switch Fig. 2 is an elevationshowing the rear face of the dial illustrated in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view; Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line l4 ofFig. 3; Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the contact spring, and Fig. 6 isa view of the arm.

Referring to the details of the drawing, the numeral 6 indicates anordinary metallic clock-dial bearing the usual figures 7 and. suppliedwith an hour hand 8 and a minute hand 9, mounted upon their respectivespindles l0 and 11. Upon the spindle 10 of the hour hand I mount asuitable arm 12, and secure it thereto by a set screw 13. The said arm12 is arranged opposite to the hour hand 8, and being both carried bythe same spindle Will be moved in unison by the clockwork which operatesthe hands. Only so much of the clock movements have been shown as willillustrate the application of my improvements thereto. The freeextremity of the arm 12 carries a star wheel 14, lying parallel with theface of the dial and furnished with four arms or spokes 15. This wheelis pivoted to said arm and the adjust ment is such that the wheel willbe held by friction at any position to which it may be turned on itspivot 16.

The dial 6 is pierced by a series of spaced holes 17 arranged in acircle concentric with the dial, and corresponding in number andlocation with the figures 7 which designate the hours. Two contact pins18, 19, are fitted to frictionally engage the said holes each pin beingfurnished with. a thin head 19 to permit the clock hands 8,9, to passthereover without danger of interference. The body of each pin projectsbeyond the rear face of the dial sufficiently to bring it within thepath of one of the spokes of the wheel 14, as the latter is carriedaround the dial center. "Whenever one of these spokes strikes one of thepins, the wheel 14. will be given a quarter turn bringinganother arm orspoke into position to strike the next pin in sequence, with the resultthat four such impulses will complete a single revolution of the wheel,the mechanical movement being one well understood in the art.

Upon the spindle 10, behind the arm 12, is mounted a fixed spool 20,formed of suitable insulating material, preferably rubber. Surroundingthis spool is a collar 21, and projecting therefrom is an integralbracket arm 22, parallel with the dial and bearing upon its outer end acontact member in the form of a spring fork 23, attached to the said.arm by a stem 24. This fork projects in front of the arms or spokes 15of the star wheel 14, but does not come in contact directly with thesaid arms. One of the star wheel arms, however, bears a contact piece orclip 25 one end of which is raised from the surface of the arm to whichit is attached, and is arranged to pass between the members of the forkand. as the ends of the fork are in apposition they will be sure to makea good electrical contact with said clip 25. Extending from the arm 12and the bracket arm 22 is a brace 26, formed of insulating material, togive rigidity to the structure and act as a spacer to insure the properrelation of the arm 12 to the star wheel.

The mechanism thus described is introduced into the circuit of anelectric light sys tem by attaching one of the conductors 27 to somepoint 28 of the dial and connecting the other conductor 29 in thefollowing manner: The end 30 of the wire, denuded of its insulatingcovering is wound loosely about the collar 21, surrounding theinsulating spool 20, in such a manner as to insure a good electricalcontact, but without interfering with the movement of the spindle 10.The conductor 29 is supported adjacent to this sliding contact by asuitable post 31, attached to any convenient support, such as the clockframe 32, a portion of which is shown in Fig. 3.

Having thus set forth in detail the construction of my improved circuitclosing and opening apparatus I will describe the method of itsoperation. The attachments of the wires having been made to a dialprepared in the manner hereinbefore disclosed and the clock mechanismput in motion the arm 12 will begin to revolve in unison with the hourhand 8, as previously described. We will suppose that it is desired toclose the lamp circuit at 8 oclock and shut oil the lamps at 10 oclock,two hours later. In that case one pin 18 will be inserted in the hole1'7 corresponding with the figure VIII of the dial and the other pininserted at the figure X. Or, in other words, the pins are to beinserted, one at the hour at which it is desired to light the lamps andthe other at the time they are to be extinguished. The cruciform or starwheel 14: is then set so that when it reaches the first pin 18 insertedat VIII one of the arms 15 will engage said pin and carry the contactclip 25 into contact with the spring fork 23, thus closing the circuitand lighting the lamps connected therewith. As the arm 12 moves onwardthe clip will remain in contact with the spring fork until the pin 18 isreached, when the next arm of the wheel will be engaged by the pin,giving the wheel an.

other quarter turn and breaking the contact between the clip and springfork, thereby extinguishing the lamps. When the wheel 14 again passesthe pins 18, 19, it will be turned as before by the engagement insequence of the remaining arms, bringing the device into position so tiat when the pin 17 is again reached it will carry the wheel to theinitial position, bringing the contact clip 25 again into engagementwith the spring fork and closing the lamp circuit.

It will be understood that the position of the pins may be varied inmany ways, the intervals between them determining the length of the timethe circuit is on or oil. l lhile I have shown two pins effecting theclosure of the circuit at intervals of 24 hours, a different number maybe employed; thus four pins would cause the circuit to be closed andopened at 12 hour intervals, and if it were found desirable one pincould be removed so that the intervals between the closures of thecircuit would be 48 hours, in which case the lamps would burn for 12hours before being extinguished. Variations of this nature may also bebrought about by the substitution of wheels having a different number ofteeth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combinationwith a clock dial and mechanism, and a spindle operated by saidmechanism, of an arm mounted on said spindle, a wheel carried on saidarm and having spokes, a series of pins arranged in the path of thespokes of said wheel, an insulated electric terminal supported by saidspindle, and means carried by said wheel for making contact with saidterminal.

2. The combination with a clock dial and mechanism an index hand for thedial, and a spindle for the hand driven by said mechanism, of an armmounted on said spindle, a wheel carried on said arm and having spokes,a series of pins removably arranged in the path of said spokes, aninsulated electric terminal supported on the spindle, and means carriedby said wheel for making con nection between the terminal and said arm.

3. The combination with a clock-dial and mechanism, a hand for the dialand a spindle for the hand, of an arm adjustably mounted on saidspindle, a wheel carried on said arm and having spokes, a series ofadjustable abutments arranged in the path of said spokes, an insulatedelectrical terminal supported on the spindle, means carried by saidwheel for making electrical connection between the terminal and saidarm, and an electrical circuit including the dial and said terminal.

4. The combination with a clock dial provided with a series ofapertures, a spindle and mechanism for driving said spindle, of contactpins removably arranged in said apertures, an arm mounted on saidspindle, a wheel carried on said arm, and having spokes arranged toengage said pins, an in sulated terminal supported by the spindle, meanscarried by said Wheel for making electric connection between theterminal and said arm and an electrical circuit including said dial andterminal.

5. In an electrical time switch, in combination, a clock-dial, andmechanism, movable contacts arranged on the said dial, a spindle drivenby said mechanism, an arm on the spindle, an insulated electricalterminal, an electrical circuit including the dial and said terminal,and rotary means carried by said arm for completing the circuit bet eenthe said dial and the terminal.

In testimony whereof I my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ARTHUR L. WOOD.

Witnesses y M. M. FINNEY, J. M. BREEN.

